Pueblo County owns the arts center and pays for maintenance and utilities.

Last year the arts and conference center received more than $1.2 million of in-kind support, the county chipping in more $1 million, Interim Director Rochelle Spoone said.

The arts center also received more than $128,000 of funds from the Community Services Advisory Commission — a citizen advisory committee for both the city and county that reviews applications for non-profits seeking financial support.

Of the CSAC funding, more than $66,000 came from the city and more than $62,000 came from the county.

If 1A passes, the arts center would receive about $1.3 annually, spelling itself from county support.

“Funds from the passage of 1A will be used primarily to replace the in-kind support currently provided by Pueblo County, which will be eliminated pending passage of the ballot initiative,” Spoone said.

The arts center would then be responsible for its own maintenance, utilities, repairs, supplies and other operational expenses.

“The balance of funds remaining after these operational expenses are met will be used to expand museum hours, augment our educational and outreach programs, and will also be used to make needed repairs and improvements to our facility,” Spoone said.

The art center’s budget this year is more than $2.4 million, 35 percent of which comes from city and county support.

If IA fails, Spoone said the county’s role would remain, however it has already scaled back support.

“Pueblo County has already deferred major maintenance and facility improvements for the arts center and we have been given no assurance that this trend will change in the near future,” Spoone said. “While we will do our best to provide the services outlined in our mission and goals, failure of 1A or the continued reduction of county support will impact our operations. At that point, we will be facing cut-backs in programming, staffing and operational hours.”

The arts center employs 34 full and part-time employees and more than 50 contracted employees, mainly teachers and other positions.